American Superconductor ups China work (Boston)

American Superconductor Corp. continued to increase the portion of its business coming from its largest customer, Chinese turbine maker Sinovel Wind Group Co., in the recent fiscal year, according to an annual report filing.

The Devens, Mass.-based company (NASDAQ: AMSC) saw 70 percent of its revenue come from Sinovel, China’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, during fiscal year 2009, which ended March 31 for the company.

That’s compared to 67 percent of revenue from Sinovel in the prior fiscal year and 51 percent of revenue in fiscal 2007, according to American Superconductor’s annual report.

American Superconductor, which does most of its business in designs and control systems for wind turbines, reported revenue at $316 million for fiscal 2009, compared with $182.8 million in the previous fiscal year.

The company has worked with Sinovel since 2005. This month the companies announced two new deals — one to jointly design and develop a new line of wind turbines, the other a $445 million order from Sinovel for core electrical components from American Superconductor.

While the large number of orders from Sinovel has been the key factor in boosting revenue for American Superconductor, the company did note that reliance on the partnership could be a problem if Sinovel ever pulled back. If Sinovel were to cancel purchase orders or development contracts, or discontinue future purchases, “we would likely be unable to replace the related revenues,” American Superconductor wrote in the risk factor section of the annual report.

Read the full story in the Boston Business Journal.